Portsmouth Port Solent

The dining room and bar area very cold did not appear to have any heating. Room 135 never did get any hot water as at the end of the corridor. Insufficient staff but those in attendance worked very hard.

I arrived at the Premier Inn at 6pm on Saturday 4th January, having booked a meal deal. The receptionist was very polite and helpful. The room was cold and not up to scratch… However! My true experience was about to begin… I immediately checked in at the restaurant to be told by a rude lady that I needed to book a table. The restaurant only had 2 tables occupied… I arrived at 6:25 to be kept waiting for 10 minutes. No staff members available. Then a male member of staff passing by told me to take a seat before disappearing. Another member of staff arrived to take my order. I was then told that most of the menu was not available. He explained that the Premier Inn was ‘shockingly terrible for letting down their customers’ … He expanded on a few issues that rang alarm bells… I had to eat at the Pizza Hut nearby. I was staying in a Premier Plus room that was not up to its usual standard… No water in the fridge and only a 2 finger Kit-Kat on the side… not the usual Green & Blacks chocolate. I arrived for breakfast the following morning… No buffet, no Alpen… The chef said they didn’t have enough customers or food for a buffet. He expanded on supply issues and said they were having to go to the local Tesco to buy items. Seriously, I could write a novel on my experience but I’m not wasting my time. I’ve had the same experience in Whitehaven on Sunday. The company doesn’t care and your failing your staff and customers…

We arrived at 14.20. The room was ready but we weren't allowed to check in until 15.00 or pay £10 for the extra 30 minutes. I raised this with the Manager whose response was 'It's company policy'. I use Premier Inn regularly for work in a number of locations, never had that said to me before. Told him that. Same response from the Manager 'Well they are all breaking company policy'. What they are actually doing is 'managing' and keeping their customers happy. Not just wearing a badge that says 'Manager' and upsetting regular customers for the sake of 30 minutes. Petty and shabby. That's me finished with Premier Inn just on that basis. We ate in the restaurant that evening. They had run out of 'Beer Battered fish'. Strangely later on it came back on the menu after a staff member popped on to Tesco frozen aisle to get some. Then literally just warmed up. Cold mushy peas. Literally for that hour the ratio of staff to tables was 1:1 and it was still a disorganised shambles. Breakfast the next morning. A substantial number of customers. 2 staff who were more interested in giggling and chatting than the state of the buffet. No Alpen, no bread or croissants, fruit empty. Why did I need to tell them to refill things??? Don't they notice? Another fabulous Manager response 'We've run out of Alpen'. That was his entire defence. Although strangely when I walked back round to the buffet a large box of Alpen had appeared. I should say something good. I booked a Premier Plus room which was quite pleasant. Shame that didn't have the 'Slightly early check in' included for the extra I paid.